Body Dysmorphia so common, it's mainstream?

Body Dysmorphia use to be a serious illness, what happened...

From the knee BL, to the BBL, and even bras inserted in your ribs

Body Dysmorphia by definition: a mental health condition in which you can't stop thinking about one or more perceived defects or flaws in your appearance.

You ever scroll through social Media these days and say to yourself …. “Damn everybody has plastic surgery.” Or “Everybody starting to look the same” . That’s because it's actually true. A new study with the National Institute of health shows that 1 and every 4 women have had at least one cosmetic procedure. Which, first of all, is insane. And secondly When you think about that in relative terms, it basically means if you walk into a Wal-Mart and only 4 lines are open, one of them Wal-Mart booties is fake.

To put it more into perspective, in the year 2020 229,740 girls ranging from ages 3-19 underwent cosmetic surgery. These are practically children. At that age I didn’t even know what I wanted to look like, I just knew I wanted to be considered desirable.

I think it’s funny as a society how much time we spend attempting to reach this “Holy Grail” of beauty, only to be sat aside like tarnished goods once that beauty diminishes. Even more funny is that society and the people in it will pay for these “adjustments” just to be better appreciated because of their physical attributes, but swear that they got surgery for “themselves” .

Prime example being SZA saying in her recent interview with Ella USA That her BBL what “100% her own choice” and that she “succumbed to her own eyes'' she went to say she wants her “butt to work for itself”. I don't understand how one could say this and not realize the contradiction within itself. What work, in particular, is this ass doing for itself? Impressing the people it passes? Getting people to talk? Making people do a double take? Notice how none of these things included internal fulfillment. SZA prior to surgery was beautiful by any standard, now by some she is obese. Beauty is subjective, once people realize that maybe this epidemic will dye down.

It is not news that the media, and those in control of it, tell us what “beastly” is. The standard of beauty,

for so long, was determined by white people. “Fat asses” didn’t become a commodity to the public until music told us it was sexy “I like big butts and I cannot lie” Baby Got Back was released in 1992. If you look at music videos in the early 2000s “fat asses” were a normal size, which was based off of the asses in that video. As time progressed and Rap created a space to have our own standards of beauty the asses just started getting bigger and bigger. I do not assume this is because women just wanted more cushion to sit on.

I am not saying that you cant want a fatter ass for yourself, but what exactly does getting a fatter buttock do for your “self”? I think we confuse self, with self esteem. Because a bigger but will do wonders for my self-esteem - but will provide l, little to no help for “self” which is my identity. Because, let me tell you. I do not want to be defined by having a big butt.

Which brings me to the Aris, and Jai Nice’s of the internet, who I’m sure are very smart women, but are often only truly recognized for having a fat ass. Granted these women claim to have never had a BBL. BUT it doesn’t change the fact that their unrealistic ass to waist ratio makes it hard for impressionable women to scroll on IG and not say…”maybe I could use a little more junk in my trunk”

This feeds into seeing yourself in a light that was inaccurate. Anyone's ass will look “Small” compared to a huge one. Anyone's waist will look large compared to a small one. These things are relative. The flat tummy teas, the surgeries, fitness boot camp, and diet pill sales are at an all time high in our community. I wonder why.

These conversations are a rabbit hole because they lead to so many others. But for now I’ll leave it at this. You, nor myself truly want a fatter ass for “ourselves” . We want it because in our black society it is more aesthetically pleasing, whether it's from your own perspective or on-lookers.

The more we bend to these ideas of beauty, they will continue to become more normal. The current state of beauty is dependent upon looks and physique achieved from surgery. Which ultimately means that surgery is the beauty standard. Things that were once considered extreme have become grossly routine. After routine, “required” is lurking around the corner.

All I can say is the CNAs of the future will have HELL and possibly shit on their hands trying to wipe these asses once they’re 80 and on the ground.

To Be Continued ...